Abstract:

This study examines the structural influence of media technology innovations on the openness of European universities between the 16th and 19th centuries. By analyzing three key technological media shifts—the Gutenberg printing press, knowledge-oriented social spaces (“coffeehouse universities”), and the railway postal system, the research reveals that, media innovations reshaped the time-space dimensions of knowledge dissemination, enabling intellectual exchange to transcend university walls; emerging technologies weakened the teacher-student dependency characteristic of the manuscript era, fostering a culture of autonomous learning; new media accelerated the decline of the Latin scholarly community by promoting vernacularization in academic communication. These transformations mediated the relationship between early modern European universities and nation-states, positioning universities as active participants in the public sphere and shapers of national identity—a distinct departure from medieval institutional closure. Crucially, the study emphasizes that media technologies reconfigured university-society networks primarily through productive (rather than political) dimensions. The conclusion explores continuities and disruptions in higher education openness under contemporary digital media technologies.

Key words: early modern european universities, history of media technology, knowledge dissemination, Gutenberg printing press, coffeehouse university